Large leak sodium-water reaction analysis of an LMFBR steam generator using a variable temperature spherical bubble model

A simplified 1-D numerical model has been developed to study the pressure transients due to a large leak sodium-water reaction. In the initial stage the hydrogen generated in the reaction is taken to be of spherical shape and once the diameter of the bubble equals the shell diameter its growth is modelled in a columnar form. The model has been used to predict the pressure evolution in the reaction site for a typical experiment and has performed well. Also presented is a comparison with the predictions of a numerical 3-D model for the same experiment. © 1990.